Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Misc.

The new cowboy promoter, State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, has reportedly hired Jim Lane who mysteriously was shown the door at the Game and Fish Department 15 months ago. Lane who came from Kentucky to run the department was a great proponent of Coyote killing contests, trapping, and other cowboy favoring issues. But no one has been able to ferret out why he left Game and Fish after such a short tenure. Were there some inappropriate behaviors involved? Did Dunn check him out to see if they were serious problems? And what will Lane's responsibility be at the Land Office? Will he encourage Coyote killing contests on state trust land? Or will he let leg traps, which as Commissioner in the 90's I forbade, be reinstated? Dunn should state his positions on these issues to make them clear.

A reasonable compromise on a motorcycle helmet law would be that if a rider sustains a head injury in an accident then his insurance could deny payment for his care and no public funds could be expended in hospitals on the injured's behalf. That sounds cruel, but I am not sure that riding without a helmet should victimize taxpayers or insurance policy rates.

2 comments:

Sounds like New Mexico is getting the kind of government it voted for, i.e., when it re-elected Susanna Martinez and elected Aubrey Dunn over an excellent steward of NM public lands, like Ray Powell. Martinez already turned out all the scientists from the State Environment Department when she appointed Ryan Flynn as Chief Counsel there to negotiate sweetheart deals with the mines and dairies and he was rewarded by his appointment to Cabinet Secretary in 2014. He was confirmed in 2014 by several Democrats (including Howie Morales, one of the Democratic primary candidates for Governor last year) and reconfirmed unanimously this legislative term. The New Mexico Democratic Party is weak in this state and too many Democratic legislators have rolled over to Martinez' and the anti-environmental forces of this state. I hope the State Dems elect Deb Haaland as their new Chairperson because I believe as a Native woman, she definitely understands what our priorities need to be to sustain our land.

Wow. This Lane guy is unfit for office, any office. There should be a background check & the governor's office knows the reason because the whistleblower went there first. And, it wasn't the first time he got caught; look at what he did in Kentucky

About Me

Jim Baca has a strong record of visionary service to New Mexico. He retired as the State of New Mexico's Natural Resource Trustee 1n 2010. He has served as Mayor of the City of Albuquerque, as well as two prior terms as New Mexico’s elected State Land Commissioner. He served as the Director of the National Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior in the first Clinton Administration. Jim Baca also serves on the Boards of numerous non profit organizations including The Wilderness Society and the Wyss Foundation and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
Baca has run a successful public affairs consulting practice when not serving in public office. He spends his retirement playing golf, attending board meetings, and generally doing what ever he wants to do.